


Verdant Winds for a New Dawn

by potatoblit



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon Related, Canon Universe, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route Spoilers, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Mention of events from other routes, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Rating May Change, Snippets, Tags Might Be Updated, just a bit of Angst, like not as much as what I'm used, two idiots falling in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:09:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28790022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potatoblit/pseuds/potatoblit
Summary: It was the night of the ball, after Claude took her to the dancefloor, when he told her that any wish she may ask that night might come true. Before the sight of Enbarr, both made a wish for the future: a new dawn for Fódlan. That night, under the eyes of the Goddess, Byleth knew she held him dear.A series of drabbles/snippets about Byleth and Claude falling in love with each other during the events of the Verdant Wind route, and after.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. Memories of the cause of sorrow (Ethereal Moon)

**Author's Note:**

> The reason why I like these two that much is because how intimate (I think) their relationship is. I just wanted put into words some of my headcanons and what I imagined they thought and felt during some events in the Golden Deer route. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed playing the game and writing these two loving each other.  
> English is not my first language, sorry for the many mistakes you may find :_]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason why I like these two that much is because how intimate (I think) their relationship is. I just wanted put into words some of my headcanons and what I imagined they thought and felt during some events in the Golden Deer route. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed playing the game and writing these two loving each other.  
> English is not my first language, sorry for the mistakes you may find :_]

The last time she stood under the Goddess Tower was the night of the ball, after Claude took her to the dancefloor. Byleth remembered how his lips twitched when he winked at her and how warm his hand was wrapped around her fingers. Raised in a mercenary band, she never had worried about learning how to dance. She soon knew that Claude wasn’t an experienced dancer either, as his upbringing wasn’t that of a nobleman, yet he knew how to move on the dancefloor like Edelgard and Dimitri did. Her mind that night was a mess and her cheeks were blushed because of the heat, the unwanted attention and the drinks they had before. As soon as their dance was done, she let the cold winds of the night take her to the courtyard, running away from the noisy crowd.

She found Claude at the foot of the tower, where he took her hand once more, this time to guide her through the halls and staircases aiming for the top floor. There they shared a peaceful silence by the window, from where they were able to see the lights of Enbarr in the horizon. As flames clouded by the mist, its lights shone like burning coal, a bad omen of the battles that were yet to come, a prophecy foretelling that Fódlan was to be engulfed by the flames of war. That night they couldn’t even imagine how much blood would be spilled just for the sake of a dream.

That was the place where Claude told her that when a man and a woman pray for the same thing on that very night, the Goddess might grant their wish.

He had said they should wish for their ambitions to come true, but she had none. That night she had a grim reminder about her situation at the Monastery. Although it was supposed to be temporary, she had found a place where she fitted in, there, by the side of the Golden Deers, as their teacher and as their friend. Life at Garreg Mach had been very different from that which Byleth had with her father, but she felt genuinely happy, or at least, comfortable enough to forget that those people weren’t at the Monastery for the same reasons as her. She had felt the same thing moons ago before that night, when Judith came to pick up Claude and took him to the Alliance's Roundtable: another reminder for her. Claude had a duty as heir to the Alliance and was supposed to be its leader. Her young pupils were supposed to be the future counts, diplomats and knights of the Leicester Alliance and would follow their own interests, just as the students from the other classes would. Of course Claude had plans for the future and ambitions of his own. All of them had.

On that night, Edelgard may had wished to break the chains that bounded her, to finally free herself from the torment she had inherited. Perhaps, Dimitri asked to be able to let go from the sins of the past and hold onto the present. As fond of secrets as he was, Byleth only had a vague idea of what Claude might have wanted for the future.

What people knew about him was what the master tactician wanted others to see _in him_ , but she was smart enough to know that his ambitions were far beyond the Alliance. Byleth had followed him since she started teaching at Garreg Mach, and would happily keep doing so. She wanted to be able to trust him and his intentions with her life, but to do so, he had to trust her, too.

“Even if you’re not aware of it, I’m sure there’s something your heart of hearts wishes for”, he had said. She could only think about a future in the Monastery, by his side.

Perhaps meet him again in the future. Work for him as a mercenary, or even as his knight. Years of peace for the countries. A kinder world where Claude wouldn’t need to keep secrets. A future in which she could earn his trust, in which she would be able to fully _trust him_ _back_.

Before the sight of Enbarr, Byleth and Claude made a wish for the future: a new dawn for Fódlan.

And on that night, under the eyes of the Goddess, Byleth knew she held him dear.


	2. Reunion at dawn (Ethereal Moon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth awakes from a five-year slumber and heads back to Garreg Mach to fulfill a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Made some changes 😬

As she walks across the gloomy halls, her steps echo.

Each one reverberates higher than the previous, hard and dull like her heartbeat, war drums playing in her ears. The entire place reeks of wet dirt, blood and _death_.

After some time away from Garreg Mach, Byleth fears she won’t remember how to get to the Goddess Tower, but her body moves in its own, a mysterious energy calling from the highest point, the pull drawing her like a magnet.

Climbing to the top feels endless to her, even when the very stairs are leading her way. The weight of her legs is growing heavier with each step, but she can’t help but keep moving forward, until the grey cold stones of the walls turn brighter once the light coming from the last room shines upon them. A soft breeze weaves her hair, bringing with it the smell of winter and moss.

Drawn against the golden sun, a dark silhouette stands.

Claude is dressed with his uniform, somber black and shining gold, his braid decorated with a golden thread. Bright green eyes lock with hers. After all this time…

He doesn’t look surprised at all.

She loses her balance and falls on her knees when a red arrow swifts across the room and lands on the wall above her head.

He’s wielding the Frailnaught, a relic she has never seen before, yet its name and appearance feel strangely familiar.

Everything becomes blurrier and darker, losing sight of Claude but spotting the red light of another arrow. Byleth is ready to let him end her life, and in that moment, she just knows this can’t be real.

Claude would never miss a shot like that.

~

_You… how long do you intend to sleep?_

A young voice can be heard in the distance, but it feels too far…

It’s not Sothis’ voice. It _couldn’t_ be even if Byleth wanted to.

_Your body is awake. Your eyes must open now, and you must find the strength to stand upon those legs of yours._

The voice sounds like her, but it’s difficult to tell. The sound of a waterfall is louder than any words Byleth can hear. Her limbs feel heavy and her whole body feels colder, and colder, and _colder_...

_Like so much rain, a pool of blood has fallen to the ground… As spears and arrows pierce the earth, it weeps. And even now, it weeps…_

When Byleth finally opens her eyes, she meets with the worried face of a man who’s shaking her limp body. When she groans, he stops, and it makes it easier for her to come to her senses. The cold, nailed to her skin like icy pins and needles, is becoming overwhelming.

She finds herself in the Airmid River, pretty close to the wetland at the feet of the mountains that stand proud in the center of Fódlan. They are close to the Monastery; from their surroundings, she can tell.

Everything is dreadfully… empty of life. Under a cloudy day, the water is darker and it feels thick like blood around her lower body. The soil is gray and the leaves on the trees are even darker, the same color as the mountains in the horizon veiled by the fog, ashen grey mist covering everything as if both earth and sky in Fódlan had been burning for ages.

She regrets asking some questions, because the man starts rambling and Byleth tries to catch all the information he’s providing, but her mind feels fogged and every detail she gets is more concerning than the last.

Garreg Mach was abandoned five years ago, he says, when the war started and the archbishop disappeared. Villages are struggling and bandits made their new home of what once was a sacred place.

The continent is at war and there’s nothing left from the past. Nothing to hold onto the present. No hope for the future.

He mentions that the millennium festival is supposed to be celebrated soon, and Byleth remembers, a promise she made years ago. She knows she has to return to Garreg Mach.

She has to go back where it all begun.

He warns that the Monastery is now dangerous but Byleth doesn’t care, so after insisting for a while, he starts yelling defeated by her stubbornness. She doesn’t understand his concern, but considering that there are secrets about her that remain unknown, and the fact that Rhea –the only one who knows about them- has been missing for years, she can’t afford to let her guard down. She leaves him behind, dumbfounded by her recklessness.

She has nowhere else to go.

Byleth’s body is weak and cold, her soaked clothes cling to her skin and her armor feels really heavy but she has to keep going.

Once again, her body moves on its own. She feels _that pull_.

~

As she crosses the Cathedral in ruins the scenario resembles the one in her dreams. She’s approaching the Goddess Tower when memories flood her mind. The closer she gets, the more she remembers. That dream in the Tower, it’s not the first one she’s had in her sleep, the distant memory of a reunion with a defeated Dimitri, who looks more dead than alive, comes up in her mind. Byleth has seen Edelgard in her dreams too, sparing her life with a promise of an inevitable death under her blade.

It’s still dark outside when she starts climbing the stairs, the shy remnants of the moonlight hiding to leave her alone in the dark. As shadows surround her, she finds herself unable to see, forced to use only her touch as guide, feeling the walls with the tip of her fingers. With trembling hands against the cold stone, this time she walks silent. She knows she’s arriving to her destination when the weak light draws the silhouette of the last steps of the staircase, finally close to the highest floor. Fear coils from the depths of her gut and slithers to her chest, where it nests and crawls, knotting her throat. She hears hard shoe soles against rock, slow but rhythmic, joining the early morning bird songs that are played outside. Byleth holds her breath.

 _It’s him_.

Claude is facing the balcony, the morning sun gently bathing his tanned skin. He is taller and his shoulders are broader, or at least, this is how he looks like. He wears light, bright clothes decorated with golden details, a heavy-looking shoulder pad, a yellow cape and the banner of the Leicester Alliance. This attire makes him look powerful, imposing, regal, just like a majestic stag; he’s supposed to look like a duke but, for Byleth, he looks like a _king_. His hair is now longer, untamed locks falling over his eyes on the same side where his braid once was. He still wears an earring (a new one, a _golden_ one), and has grown a perfectly-trimmed beard that traces the profile of his squarer jaw.

Her heart skips a beat.

He looks _beautiful_.

When his bright green eyes finally meet hers, he looks genuinely surprised. Byleth brings her right hand to the handle of her sword, expecting an attack.

But he just… smiles.

“You overslept, teach!”

Byleth feels the urge to cry, to slap her own face to be certain that this is _not_ another dream, to run away just in case he still tries to kill her. Fear now creeps from the bottom of her mind, fearing her own nightmares of this very day.

He’s not showing any sign of aversion, nor he’s defensive, so she tries to remain in control of her emotions and approaches him, slowly. He laughs and Byleth gasps in response, surprised at his reaction. In a chuckle, he says it was rude of her to have him waiting for so long. The ever joking Claude. After five years, that hadn’t changed a bit.

When he approaches her, she feels paralyzed, like a small animal in front of a starving predator. He towers over her now, Byleth is surprised of how much he has grown up considering that they were about the same height five years ago. From this close he even looks more handsome with the neatly trimmed beard accentuating his now sharper traits, some wild strands falling over his forehead, a wide smile and the sun shining in his green eyes. He definitely looks older, the soft features his face once had are now long gone, but the dimples are still there, when he smiles. Byleth feels concerned about her own looks, wondering if she looks older after five long years of sleep, too.

For a moment, she thinks that Claude will _touch_ her, but he doesn’t, he just stops. She feels disappointed, somehow longing for his touch. She feels the urge to take his hand and feel the warm skin of his palms on hers again, reassure that he’s very real, she wants to feel him _closer_.

He confesses that he never gave up on her coming back, and for Byleth that’s hard to believe, as she was gone for so long. Still, the emotion in his voice feels sincere.

Byleth raises her hand, aiming for his forearm but Claude moves to face the sun, and she stops.

“Can you feel it?” he asks, his voice tainted with a feeling she can’t identify. “A new dawn is finally here. Not just for us, though. For all of Fódlan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some headcanons:  
> -Although I have finally made amends with her clothing, in my head F!Byleth actually wears the same armor as M!Byleth.  
> -Since she fused with Sothis in Chapter 10, Byleth has more intense feelings (and becomes more expressive).
> 
> If you made it this far I am nothing but thankful.  
> Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear about your headcanons, ideas or thoughts about these two. You can find me on twitter (@potatoblit) or leave a comment. Take care and stay safe!


End file.
